Night at the CrapShack
by Oh-no-she-di'ent
Summary: A lot can happen in a night.  It's Lorelai's birthday. Set AU season 3ish.  Luke is there, Miss Patty is there, and Gypsy is there too.  But most importantly, Luke is there.  Rating is M, and it lives up.  Don't sleep on it.  Enjoy!


_**Disclaimer: Amy Palladino and many more ppl I don't know own (ed) GG. Not me. On one hand there's infringement & on the other, fun leisure writing. Big helicopter lights shine on the latter.**_

Hey Readers! It's so nice to see you all reading and learning and growing and...let's sing _Reading Rainbow_ now. _Take a look, it's in a book _...please tell me this show still comes on, otherwise I am going to feel crazy old. Anyway, LL inspired another story. Late as hell btw cause it's like 3 in the morning right now, but I just now had time to post, so sue me (except you, disclaimer take-seriousers. With you, I was kidding. he..he) Okay, I'm feeling a little goofy, so let me wrap this up so I can close out this computer. See if I can still catch _I Love New York_, even though I DO NOT. She's awful. But I do love Buddha, though. Mm.

Plot: Lorelai's birthday brings a few surprises. And some Luke. I was feeling all romantic and ish when I wrote this, so hopefully, you all will feel me.

I love you guys, love that you continue to read and have interest. It astounds me. And will never go unappreciated. Read and enjoy! And if you're feeling up to it, throw a review in there ;-)

**Night at the CrapShack**

Lorelai had been spending the bulk of the afternoon trying to stay out of Rory's way. According to Rory, that was her only task. And Lorelai had assured her that she would at least _try _to oblige. She had been at the inn most of the day. Just hanging out. Because, honestly, who would choose to actually _work _on their birthday? Sookie was there at the inn, but Lorelai wasn't really allowed her normal freedom into the kitchen, so by the time 2 o'clock rolled around, she wondered why she had even chosen that location as her stay-away spot.

Lorelai's little birthday event had been co-planned. It wasn't a surprise. Both she and Rory had even gotten together with Sookie and deliberated on the menu. Even so, when it came the day of, Lorelai was told to make herself scarce.

Mid-afternoon had her tiring of Michel's company at the Independence, so she made a choice to go to _Luke's_.

She walked inside of the diner.

"Happy Birthday, Honey."

"Happy Birthday!"

"Hey, Lorelai, Happy Birthday!"

Wishes came from every townie there, and Lorelai smiled graciously as she stopped to make small conversation. She made sure each of them would be out at her house that night before making her way up to the counter. She smiled ear to ear.

Luke stood on the other side. He wasn't busy but was instead, leaning against the back wall, his hands in his pockets as he watched her approach.

Lorelai sat on a stool and exhaled. She looked at him and smiled wider. He smiled a little.

"Happy Birthday," he said quietly.

"Thank you," she said matching his tone. She winked. "I don't think it's a secret, though."

He nodded, that small smile still present. "Can I get you some coffee? No lecturing today." He reached a hand back to get the pot.

"But I like the lecturing," she playfully whined. "It makes me feel like you really care about me."

He smiled wider as he pulled out her designated mug and poured coffee into it. "You think I care about you?" He asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I didn't say you do. I said it makes me_ feel _like you do. But I kinda_ hope _you do. Or if you don't, I hope you're willing to stretch the truth a little since it's my birthday and all."

He looked at her briefly then slid the coffee to her. "You have your own mug in my diner. What do you think?"

The flattery that she felt caused a pleasant warming. Pretty much all over. The sip from her mug only added to it.

"Well, if you were to come to my house, you'd have your own mug too. So, I guess we're even."

He chuckled. "What would I be drinking out of a mug at your house?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Tea."

"You have tea?"

"No. It'd be totally BYO. But when you did, you'd have somewhere to put it."

He shook his head. "I'll remember that the next time I'm over."

Lorelai set her mug down. "Which will be tonight, right?"

"What?"

"The next time you'll be over will be tonight. For my birthday thing 'cause you're coming, right?"

He sighed. "I don't know. It's not really my scene."

"What do you mean _it's not your scene_? You have to come."

He nodded at a customer who needed to order. "Well, I close this place at 10 and then I have to--"

"Luke, that's an excuse. Everyone's gonna be at my place anyway, so you won't have much business past nine at the latest. Just close around 8 and come over," she said.

He looked around for a moment, then brought his eyes to her. "I guess I could drop by for a second."

"Yeah, you could." She took another drink from her mug. "And we'll work on that _second_ thing together."

Luke met her eyes. Smiled. "I'll be there." He put his palm out toward her. "_Still _not my scene." Lorelai smiled. "But I'll be there."

"Thanks, Luke."

He looked down tiredly. "Don't worry about it." The customer who was still waiting, waved impatiently. Luke held up a finger, signaling for him to hold on. "Do you want something to eat?" He asked Lorelai.

She looked down the counter at the other customer. "It seems that guy is a little more hungry than me. You better get to him before his clothes rip and David Banner's alter ego pops out."

Luke looked at the guy briefly. "He'll live," he said dismissively. "Can I get you something?"

Lorelai smiled for a moment before holding her mug up some. "I've got my coffee. It's gonna be smooth sailing for at least another thirty seconds."

He smiled a little. "Alright, be right back," he said as he grabbed his pad and made his way down to the customer. "Thanks for your _patience_," he said with a downward eye roll, "now, what do you want?"

Lorelai laughed into her coffee cup. There was nothing like that small town charm.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"Go Rory! Go Rory! Go Rory!"

The half drunk/ all cheerful crowd yelled their encouragement for Rory to get her groove on. Rory smiled cheekily as she walked past them with a bowl of cheese doodles. She shook her head amusedly and made her way over to Jess, who sat away from everyone else.

Lorelai cut her off before she could make it over. She turned back to Jess. "Mind if I steal her away for just a second?"

He shrugged and sat back. "It's your party, you can kidnap if you want to."

She smiled and turned Rory around by her shoulders. "Thanks, Jess. I'll have her back in no time." She placed an arm around her and turned toward the kitchen. "Having a good time?" She asked, speaking loudly over the music. She looked over and chuckled at Babbette's drunken serenade to Morey.

Rory followed her in laughter as she took notice as well. "It's definitely one for the record books."

"I agree."

Lorelai was tipsy, Rory noticed. "You nice and drunk yet, Mom?" She yelled.

Lorelai laughed as they made it inside of the kitchen which was a tad bit quieter. "Not as drunk as I plan to get by night's end!"

Rory gestured to the table. "Well, there's plenty of liquor here to help you get there."

She laughed again. "Yes, there is. And I'm gonna take full advantage of it," she said as she went and poured herself some punch. Rory gave her a questioning look. "Pace, my dear. I have to pace myself," she yelled in explanation as she took a small sip and looked around.

"Yeah, the night's just beginning, so that's a good idea. Don't want you puking all over our guests," Rory said. They had been in full swing for a little over two hours, and considering their intention to bring in the morning light, pacing seemed smart.

Lorelai held up her cup in agreement as she swallowed her mouthful. "So, is it present time yet?"

Rory laughed. "No, it's not present time."

"You sure? I could have sworn that present time was...what time is it?"

Rory looked at the time and then back at her mother, replying amusedly, "Ten seventeen."

Lorelai smiled widely. "I could have sworn that present time was at ten seventeen," she finished.

Rory nodded. "Well, we have another hour because it's only nine seventeen."

Lorelai's mouth dropped open. "Tricking the birthday princess is not kosher, Rory. This will not be well-received when it's time to...ya know--time to start tallying up the...kosherness of the night."

Rory laughed. "Drink a lot more pace punch, Mom." Lorelai lifted her brows to her as she drank from her plastic cup. Rory sat her cheese doodle bowl down and filled a cup of punch herself. She picked her bowl back up and walked toward the living room slowly as she yelled back at her mom. "Hey, five more minutes, and we can do the gift thing, okay?"

Lorelai held her cup high and whooped loudly. Rory laughed, looking around. A few of the people in the entryway and in the living room had held up a cup and echoed Lorelai's appreciation, not even caring about the reason for it.

Lorelai laughed heartily. "Headed over to Jesston?"

"Jesston?"

"Well, Jess's name sounds incomplete, so unless you want me calling your boyfriend Jessica, then Jesston's just gonna have to do."

Rory chuckled. "Yeah, I'm going to see about Jess...ton." She shook her head. "See you in a few."

"Okay. Hey, Rory!" She called before she got away. Rory turned back. "Have you seen Luke anywhere?"

Rory thought. "I don't think so. He's coming though, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he should be." She set her cup down and waved Rory away. "I'm sure he's here somewhere. Go ahead. Don't keep Jesston waiting, Hon. It's impolite."

Rory smiled at her before leaving out of the kitchen.

Lorelai looked around the kitchen at the few people that stood in there before making her way out into the main area of the party. She was stopped several times. Once by a tipsy Kirk, who surprisingly had yet to drink anything. He moved inward to speak, trying to cut down on having to yell. Lorelai laughed, feeling him getting a little too close for her taste, and she placed her hands on his arms and told him she'd talk to him a little later, but the wink she offered as a constellation prize caused him to smile goofily.

She continued through the crowd of people. Faces of people that looked familiar but not familiar enough to come with a name approached Lorelai, all with positive greetings and well wishes. Most were men. Men who had visited the kitchen table a few times and seemed to like the pretty face that moved through the crowd. They all seemed to use the excessive noise as a reason to get closer as they spoke. Not in an offensive way. It was all well-intentioned. But still, Lorelai's hands were full at work trying to keep them from invading her space too much.

After making it through much of the crowd, she sighed in exhaustion. She had to think for a second to remember why she had even decided to walk through drunken valley.

The music suddenly shut off, and Lorelai looked around quickly, thinking she'd gone deaf. But people's chatter let her know that the on/off switch on the stereo had simply been utilized.

"Hey, everybody having a good time?" She heard Rory's voice yell. Lorelai threw her hands up immediately as she joined in the affirming scream. "Where's the birthday girl?!" Rory yelled as she stood on an ottoman. Lorelai saw her head appear over the many normal sized people. Jess stood up behind Rory and stood on guard should she lose her balance. He linked his hands on top of his head and looked amusedly around at all of the intoxicated townies.

"Ooh, ooh!" Lorelai raised her hand excitedly. "Here I am. Birthday girl in the _house_!" She yelled jovially. Everyone cheered and whistled. Lorelai got ready to make her way through the crowd. Feeling light pressure on her lower back, she turned. An instant smile warmed her lips as she identified the person. Luke looked over her head to the front where Rory stood, a smile on his face. He looked down at Lorelai, then around at all the people.

"Just wanted to let you know I was here," he said. He chuckled as she faced him and jumped up and down excitedly. "You seem like you're having a good time," he commented, his eyes following her happy movements.

"I am!" She stopped and looked at him. "I'm glad you came. And I'm just going to ignore your need to make a fashionable late entrance."

He rolled his eyes. "Thanks."

"Lorelai Gilmore the second, get your butt up here!" Rory yelled loudly at the lack of a birthday girl next to her.

Lorelai moved her eyes from Luke to the front where Rory was. She looked back at him with a smile. "My presence is kinda being requested." He nodded quickly.

"Yeah, that's--fine," he said with smile. "Go." He kind of fell back into the crowd, and Lorelai looked at him for a moment.

She reached over and took hold of his hand. "Come on, Diner Man."

"What are you doing?" He leaned forward and asked as his hand rested inside of hers.

Lorelai moved through the crowd of people with him. "I don't want you to slide out of the door early without my knowing. You're coming with me."

He shook his head, being pulled forward. "I wouldn't leave without letting you know," he said.

They made it up to where Rory was. "Well, let's just view this as a little bit of insurance," she said as she let his hand go. He stood off to the side and folded his arms. Lorelai smiled at him, then turned attention to Rory. "Present time?" She asked with a quick brow raise.

Rory grinned and clasped her hands. "I now pronounce this time..." She motioned toward the crowd. "Sookie, drum roll, please."

Sookie looked around thoughtfully, then shrugged before she put her tongue against the roof of her mouth and hummed while blowing air over it. Rory laughed, then clapped.

"Everybody, give a hand to Sookie for that...wonderful impression of a...uh, single jet engine plane in trouble..." Sookie picked up an empty cup and tossed it at Rory. She ducked and Luke, not paying any attention was plopped on the head with it. He looked at Sookie plainly as laughter sounded around him. He bent down and picked up the cup. He set it through the railing on one of the stairs, then sat on the edge of Jess's armchair. Lorelai moved back toward him and lightly ran her hand over his hat soothingly. He smiled, his eyes lowered. She smiled too, and her hand grazed his cheek as she removed it.

"We'll get her later," she whispered closely to him. They looked at one another and smiled wider. Lorelai folded her arms and moved back beside Rory.

Rory cleared her throat once it seemed everyone had calmed down. "As I was saying, I now pronounce this...present time!!" She announced loudly, everyone's sudden cheers drowning her out.

"Gimme, gimme!" Lorelai said as she held both hands out.

Rory placed her arm over Lorelai's, lowering them down. "Not so fast there, Miss Missy. We have concocted a little method of opening your gifts."

"You organized my present opening?" She asked slowly. Her eyes went to Sookie, who nodded eagerly. Lorelai laughed. "This should be interesting."

"Oh, it will be. Don't you worry your little keister," confirmed Rory. Lorelai shook her head, a wide smile on her face. "Okay," she said loudly as she turned back to the crowd of people, "this segment of the party is called..." Rory looked down to her cards...because _of course_, she had cards. "It's called, _LG Knowledge_." She cleared her throat. "Past, present, and future of LG...Knowledge o' plenty will make you BE..." Rory laughed and shook her head at the bad rhyme, "...the winner of all, and while this is true, it will also make your gift be number one, not...number two..." Rory turned and looked at Jess who smirked.

"What, you just told me to come up with a rhyme for _true_. You didn't say it had to be good."

Rory dropped the cards to the table in front of her. "Okay, let me just explain this in the least corniest way possible." Jess looked down to Luke and shrugged. "Everyone knows this beautiful woman to my left, right?" Rory asked gesturing toward Lorelai. Lorelai playfully waved away all of the maniacal screams and cheers. After they died down, Rory went on. "Well, what we're going to do is have a little Lorelai trivia contest. Whoever gets the most right will be the first to have their gift opened. And will also be first in line to get a piece of Sookie's three layer chocolate chunk, with extra chunk and _even more _chocolate, cake!"

Eyes widened as everyone's interest was sparked even more. It was already gonna be a fight to the death when it was time to cut it.

Rory's hand went to Lorelai's shoulder. "That's, of course, after our guest of honor here has had her fill."

Grumbles rang throughout the crowd. Everyone knew there was a good chance that, with that being the case, none would be left.

"Case and point, you wanna do well with the trivia so that you can actually have a chance at getting some cake," Rory ended.

Rory pulled a new stack of cards from her back pocket and leaned close to her mother as she showed her some of the questions that had been written. Sookie made her way through the crowd, passing out cheap pencils and tiny memo pads.

"Yeah, we're really partying hard now," Jess mumbled.

Rory reached a hand back and pinched him below his chest as she went on talking to Lorelai. He retracted at the pinch. "Ow! Jeez," he exclaimed quietly as he grabbed the sore spot. He looked back at Luke who seemed to have found humor in it. "Shut up," he said with an eye roll.

"Didn't say anything."

"Well, take it as advice for the future."

Sookie made her way back to the front with the nearly empty box of materials. She tossed a pad and pencil at Luke who caught it easily. "I didn't say I was gonna participate in this thing. Extra chunky chocolate cake doesn't float my boat like the rest of these yahoos."

Sookie gave the last few people their supplies. "Did you bring a gift?" She asked him.

Luke looked up at Lorelai who was still speaking with Rory. He sighed. "Whatever," he mumbled.

Sookie dropped the almost empty box near Rory and went to the other side. "Ready when you are."

Rory straightened up with the cards, and Lorelai stepped off to the side, her eyes falling to Luke. "You're taking this?" She asked.

He shrugged. "Guess I am."

Lorelai smiled and looked down at his pad, his pencil all set to write. "Can I watch?"

He shook his head. "I don't work well under pressure."

She laughed. "Okay. Don't want you to bomb on my account." She reached in the box and pulled out her own pad and pencil. Luke chuckled. "What?" She asked. "I don't want to be the odd ball out. Even Jess is doing it." Jess looked up at hearing his name. He looked down to his pad, then held it out to Lorelai, revealing the beginning of a very nice doodle of a motorcycle.

"Oh," said Lorelai. She looked back at Luke. "Well, either way, I don't wanna be left out. Jess doesn't count."

"Thanks," Jess said quickly in sarcasm as he went back to drawing.

Lorelai smiled. "You know what I mean." Lorelai signaled to Rory. "Go ahead, Honey. We're ready."

Rory cleared her throat. "Okay, there are twenty questions on here. You're gonna have about 10 seconds per question, depending on length. And I'll go back over them quickly at the end for those of you who are a little slower."

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome, Kirk. Now, question number one: What is my mom's middle name?"

"Mm mm mm mmm mm mm mmmmmm..." Lorelai hummed the Jeopardy tune loudly as she scribbled down her own answer.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"Are these all of them, Sookie?"

Sookie looked around the crowded room. "I think so. Everybody turned in their answers, right?!" She yelled.

"Yeah!" Came the collective response as everyone looked around at everyone else.

Lane went over and turned the stereo back on, causing an instant uplift in the mood. People began to move and sway to the music as even more people went into the kitchen to fill and refill.

"Those things were hard!"

Rory and Sookie both turned toward Lorelai and laughed. "You're kidding, right?" They asked her of her question.

Lorelai joined in their laughter. "I wish I could say I was, but I think even I'll be standing at the end of the cake line tonight."

Rory shook her head. "I see the pace punch is working out great for you," she commented. Rory, Lane, and Sookie quickly went through each of the booklets, moving their pens as if they were professional graders.

Lorelai moved over and sat on the floor beside Luke. She brought her knees to her chest and smiled up at him. "How are you doing there, Champ?"

Luke couldn't hear her over the music. He leaned down toward her, and she repeated it. He pulled away, and it took him a few seconds to put together what she may have said. He moved to the other side of where she sat and got down next to her.

He returned her smile. "I'm good." He looked up as someone almost toppled over the table positioned off to the side. "Not as good as some of the people in here, though," he added.

"Yeah, I know," Lorelai agreed as she watched the drunk woman regain control of herself. She sighed and looked back at Luke. "I really am glad you came out tonight."

He looked down. "Yeah, I am too. It's nice to celebrate your birthday in a way that doesn't have me in a tool belt and sweating."

Lorelai looked away thoughtfully, and Luke smiled. "Trying to find a _dirty_ in there somewhere, aren't you?"

"It's what I do," she replied with a wink.

He realized how close he was sitting to her when he turned and looked into her eyes at a distance he'd never seen them before. He smiled and turned away. Coolly. "So, how do you feel...being the birthday girl?"

She smiled. "Another year older. Always great." She looked over at Rory. "The worst part is knowing that as I'm getting older, so is my baby." Rory laughed and whispered something to Lane causing her to laugh as well. Lorelai smiled wider and looked back at Luke. "She's doing such an amazing job growing up, though, isn't she?"

Luke smiled affectionately as he looked at Rory now bopping her head to the music. "She's got it mastered," he whispered. Lorelai didn't hear what he said over the music, but she smiled at the adoring look that he had on his face as he looked toward Rory. Like a proud father. Or something damn close.

The thought gave her tingles all throughout her chest and brought about a larger smile.

She knocked his leg with her foot, and he looked at her. She met his eyes and was silent as her smile grew. "So, um, how do you think you did?" She asked, changing the subject.

Luke pointed toward where the women tallied. "On that test thing?" She nodded. He shrugged. "Well, I--"

"Okay, everybody, the resu--" Rory stopped and pointed at the stereo with a giggle. Lane hopped up and shut it off. Trying it again, Rory announced, "The results are in, people!"

"Wheeeeeew!" The crowd cheered.

"Just give me my cake now!" Came an overzealous crowd member.

"Yeah, right. That first piece is mine!"

Rory shushed the crowd, then proceeded to read the list from the bottom up. Over thirty people had taken the test, so there were plenty of bottom snatchers with low numbers. Threes, fours, lots and lots of fives, sixes, and sevens had to battle for their place in line. As the high numbers were revealed, it was much less battling because only one or two people had those numbers.

Lorelai looked over at Luke, whose eyes were scrutinizing the rambunctious crowd. Babbette had had 13 questions correct, and so far, she was in the lead. She looked at him, curious as to how many he had gotten since his name had yet to be called.

Rory stopped at fifteen questions, which had been Lane's position.

"I think many of you would agree that this wasn't as easy as it sounded." Lots of people agreed, laughing all the while, their bottom positions already solidified. Rory looked back at her mother, then smiled. "I'm going to take the time to read through some of these and give the answer. I'll give the reason for that in a minute."

Lorelai moved her legs to sit indian style as she listened up.

"What is Lorelai's middle name?---many of you got. Victoria." Many people said that along with her. "What does Lorelai's father do for a living?" Before Rory even finished the sentence, the answer was being yelled out by Babbette and only a few other people who seemed proud to have known the answer. Rory laughed. "Not exactly easy, but some of you hit it on the head. Insurance is a big game." Rory flipped a card. "Now, like I said, some of these were kind of tricky. My mother and I went on an impromptu trip to Harvard over a year ago. We stayed at a B&B. This question asked the name of it." Nobody yelled anything. Rory looked back at her mother and smiled again. "The answer is Cheshire Cat. It had moving flowers everywhere and it freaked us out a bit." Rory scratched her brow. "I'd actually forgotten that little fact."

She picked up another card. "Lorelai has exactly nine different tank tops, all different colors. She doesn't have one color. It's nothing funky. It's just a base color, and she has no shades of it. What is the color?" Again, nobody said anything. "A few of you actually got this, but I'm sure you were guessing judging by the crickets that I'm hearing right now." Laughter filled the quiet room. "I have two more, then I'm gonna share something with you all." She flipped to the card, then read the question aloud. "What are four significant dates in Lorelai's life? Bonus if you say what they are. There's a lot to choose from on this question, but we were looking for the top four." Rory's eyes went back to her mother again. "October 26th, the day of my birth," Rory beamed. "November 2nd, the day that we both came to Stars Hollow, April 11th, the day my mom purchased this house..." Rory and Lorelai shared a smile. "And, um, February 8th was the day that Mia promoted my mom to manager at the Independence Inn."

Rory sighed as she heard a collective bunch of saddened _awwws_ rang out. "Come on people. Buck up! This is gonna get good." Smiles spread throughout. "Okay, the last one here is..." She shuffled through for the card. Finding it, she held it out to read. "When I was about 12 years old, my mom and I were kind of playing and fooling around on the porch. She kept zooming by really fast past the steps, and I told her to be careful before she fell and hurt herself. She laughed at how her _daughter _was being the responsible one, then told me that she'd be okay. The next time she went zooming by, she slid down the stairs. And yes, there was laughter from me."

"Sadist," Lorelai yelled playfully.

Rory smiled. "She had to get stitches, and the question, as simple as it was, was how many did she have to get. The answer was 14."

Rory gathered all of the cards and put them aside. "Now, there was a reason those last four questions stood out to me. All of you probably don't know this, but my mother, Ms. Lorelai Gilmore, over there took the test too. Wave to the people, Mom."

Lorelai waved happily.

Rory continued. "And all of those questions were ones she got..._wrong_!" Everyone, including Lorelai laughed. But she continued to wave anyway.

"Mom," Rory went on to say, "only got sixteen of her _own questions _right. And as pitiful as that is--"

"Hey, I'm a little intoxicated right now! You have to factor that in. And my answer of February 3rd was totally legitimate. I was devastated on that day," she said referring to the fatal plane crash of three rock musicians. Known widely as The Day the Music Died.

Rory scoffed, picking up on her reference immediately. "That was 1959, Mom. You weren't even born yet. Music didn't even come _alive _for you until 1967."

Lorelai thought for second. "Oh, yeah," she said with a light chuckle. "Okay, continue."

Rory shook her head. "There was one person in here, though who soared above everybody, including the honoree. Still pitiful, but whatever," she mumbled.

Lorelai laughed and turned her head to Luke. He was looking down, blinking every so often as he stared onto his own lap. She looked to him calmly, already knowing what Rory was about to say.

"Not only did this person get every question right, but he, in the few seconds that I gave you guys to get all this stuff in, even took time to add stuff--like the moving wallpaper fact." Luke sighed loudly as he still looked down, his face beginning to turn red. Lorelai smiled.

"I know you guys are in suspense, so I'll end it right now," announced Rory. She turned around. "Luke, come up here and say a few words." Rory smiled widely.

He lifted his head and looked at all the people applauding and looking down to him. He turned to Lorelai, annoyance in his features. "I don't want to say a few words," he told her.

She laughed. "You don't have to." She got ready to stand. "Don't worry. Just sit tight," she said as she stood up and walked over to Rory. After whispering something to her, Rory told everyone that they'd open gifts in a few minutes. The music got cranked once again, and Lorelai went back over to Luke, signaling for him to stand. She stood on her toes and spoke into his ear, bypassing the incredibly loud music. "Come outside with me?" She asked.

He pulled back and nodded. He moved his mouth by her ear. "Sure. I'll meet you out there, okay?"

Lorelai placed her hands on his shoulders and moved back to his ear. "Okay, back porch," she said. She pulled away, and watched him nod before she turned to walk away.

Luke took a deep breath as he slid his palm over his face. He looked around at all of the happy, dancing people for a minute before he went over to Lorelai's huge pile of gifts. Glancing around, he picked up the box he'd placed off to the side. He looked at it for a moment before turning to head outside.

He pushed open the back door to find Lorelai sitting on the top step.

She turned and caught sight of the present that he had under his arm. A smile came across her face. He shut the door behind himself and joined her. He sat, leaning against the opposite side, one step below where she sat. Both her feet rested below his raised knee as his right foot went to the opposite rail.

"Is that for me?" She asked quietly.

He held up the present, then inspected it as if he wasn't sure. "It's for you," he answered after getting her to smile. He held it out to her, and she took it slowly.

"First present of the night. Wonder what it could be," she said as she sat it in her lap. Her fingers ran lightly over the soft-colored ribbon. Luke looked at it, then her.

"It's only one way to find out."

Lorelai looked down at the nicely wrapped gift, not exactly knowing what to think of it. "Thank you for this, Luke," she said timidly.

He laughed. "You haven't even opened it yet."

She smiled wide. "I know, but I just wanted to say that. I mean, you usually give me the free labor thing, and I love that...but I just wanted to thank you for going out of your way to get this." Her hands lay lightly on top of the box. She touched it as if it was a bomb or something that had to be handled with great care.

He shrugged. "My gift to you this year is still 5 hours of grunt work." He pointed at the box. "This is just something extra."

Lorelai smiled, then bit her lip momentarily. "Guess I should open it then, huh?"

He nodded. "Sometime today would be nice."

She laughed and pulled at the ribbon. "Did you wrap this?" She asked.

Again, he nodded.

Lorelai looked impressed. "It's nice. You have skills."

"I've been told," he said distractedly as he stared impatiently at the box that she tore at much too slowly.

She smiled at his response as she went on unwrapping. Finally revealing a plain white box, she carefully lifted the flap then turned it in her lap so that she could lift the side pieces. Luke's soft chuckle made her look up. "What?" She asked.

"I would have never guessed that you'd be doing this this slowly. As impatient as you are with everything else..." he responded.

She looked down at the bubble wrap that was now exposed, then back at him. "It's my birthday. Let me open it my own way. Can you do that, birthday gift Nazi?"

He rolled his eyes. "I doubt I have much of a choice."

"And it's nice that you recognize that."

He sighed as she cautiously pulled the bubble wrap out, and with it, the gift. She turned it in her hands a few times, trying to find that piece of clear tape that held the wrapping together. The dim lighting supplied by the porch light only added to the craziness of that particular act.

"Oh, brother!" Luke grumbled. "I'm falling asleep here, Lorelai."

She laughed and set the box on the step, setting the gift in her lap instead. She pulled at a random spot and finally was able to tear the layers of bubble wrap away. Running her hands over the top of the unobstructed brass, she picked it up and held it in front of her. Luke's eyes were wide with anticipation. He watched her for moment before he looked at the object that she twirled in her hand slowly.

It was a statue. A small, beautifully made statue that featured a woman, long in body, kneeled low on the ground. Her attention rested over her shoulder as she extended a loving hand over that same shoulder. To a small child. Whose body seemed to meld dependently with the woman's. They were linked, the child sitting high on the mother's back, and the little one's face was closely positioned next to the woman's neck as she, with a tiny hand, touched her mother's outstretched one. They both appeared so happy and so open with one another. It looked to be made of metal, the statue. And with the finished enamel representing human skin, it kept the small sculpture at its core. Devoid of anything resembling riches, both the love and raw connection that was displayed in the modest piece of art was even more apparent.

Lorelai moved her fingers lightly over the various curves, bringing it inward to study even more. Then, she pulled it away and lowered it.

There was a light sigh as she continued to look down at it. "Luke, this is beautiful," she said quietly.

He looked at her lowered lids. Nodding, he replied, "I saw it and thought of you and Rory," he said motioning at it. "I had to get it," he added.

She waited a beat, then lifted her head to look at him. Her expression was so serious. Luke looked at her nervously. "This means a lot to me."

He smiled, lowering his eyes to the statue. He'd loved it as soon as he laid eyes on it. It was the essence of how he saw Lorelai and Rory's relationship. Pure relief came when he heard and saw how much it meant to Lorelai. "That's good. I'm glad it does. It means a lot to me...that it means a lot to you."

She finally smiled. Just a little. She dropped her eyes to it once again. "This totally tops anything that I'm going to get in there," she said, looking back at him.

He smiled.

They heard the music shut off, then they heard loud talking, followed by Lorelai's name being yelled by several people. She sighed, admiring her present a few additional seconds before carefully re-wrapping it to stick back in the box. "I probably should get back in there."

Luke handed her the box once she had it wrapped. She smiled in thanks as she placed it back inside and secured it. She stood up, then looked down at Luke. "You're not going anywhere, are you?" She asked just to make sure.

He looked up at her before slowly standing. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna take off before any more impromptu speeches appear in my future."

She moved down on the same step as him. "Don't," she said with wide eyes. "Please, not yet. I actually did call you out here for a reason. I have to talk to you. Can you just hang around for a little while longer?"

His eyes went off to the side in contemplation.

"Please? With all kinds of fruit and and...healthy crap on top?"

He chuckled. "I'll stay," he agreed like it wasn't a big deal.

She smiled widely. "Okay. Let me go inside, rip through some presents, and we can come back out here, okay?"

He nodded, and she smiled again before leading the way inside.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Luke stopped in the kitchen on the way back inside and grabbed himself a bottle of beer from the refrigerator. He opened it as he made his way back into the still crowded living room. He went over to the stairs and took a seat near the pivot in the staircase. It was the lowest spot that didn't have anyone lingering.

Taking a swig from his bottle, he looked over and saw Lorelai tearing through her presents as if there was no tomorrow. Wrapping paper was landing everywhere. She was giving hug after hug to the drunk and the generous. Luke laughed to himself as he watched her go from present to present without delay. There was screaming and laughter and fake crying from her as she continued on.

He finished off half of the beer, then sat his bottle down. He leaned on his knees and lowered his head. His mind went back to Lorelai's reaction to the statue, and he found himself smiling. He'd been nervous when he purchased the gift, and even more nervous when it came time to give it to her, but the hard part was over, and now he was left with only great remembrances of a breathtaking countenance. One of happiness. He shook his head in amusement, knowing that the image would remain with him for at least a week. That is, until it was replaced by another from her. They flooded in all the time. And all he could do was just try to make room.

Luke didn't know how long he sat there in his own little world, but he snapped back as he felt a hand rub his knee. He looked up, seeing Lorelai smiling widely as she kneeled in front of him.

"You okay?" She asked.

He sighed and sat up. "Yeah," he replied with poorly contained smile. Her hand moved over his knee to the lower most part of his thigh as she continued to look at him.

He didn't know when exactly they or _she _had gotten so comfortable with the touching, but whatever the date was, he was gonna figure it out and add it to _his _list of significant dates.

"I'm gonna go cut the cake, then we can go outside."

He nodded, looking down to his leg as she took her hand away. "That sounds good."

She smiled and stood. "Okay. Be back soon."

He watched her descend the few stairs. She graciously declined to dance with a hammered Bootsie, and Luke laughed as she turned back to him with a mouthed, "_Yikes!" _then continued through to where Jackson was bringing out the cake, starting a loud chorus of _Happy Birthday_.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Lorelai secured the door behind her, the music fading more into the background. She, then followed Luke over to the step.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea that would take so long," she said as they walked out onto the porch a half hour later.

Luke waved a hand. "It's alright. It was fun to watch Kirk and Gypsy vie for that 20th position in the cake line." Lorelai laughed, and they both reclaimed their earlier seat on the steps.

"Yeah, that would have to go down as a bright spot for the evening."

They each smiled, allowing quiet to take over.

"It's good to see you having such a good time in there," Luke said sincerely.

She smiled. "And it's good to actually _see you _in there, period." She watched him smile. "...actually participating," she continued. "Doing LG trivia and stuff." Her eyes were locked on his face as he looked downward. "...which by the way, had some pretty impressive results."

Luke shook his head. "Not all that impressive. Just easy questions," he said quietly.

"Yeah, rub it in," she said jokingly. Soft laughter came from both of them. Lorelai moved down toward his end a bit. "Luke?"

He took a small breath before lifting his head to look at her. She smiled, her eyes moving slowly between his. "How do know so much about me?" She asked with quiet amazement. "I know I talk a lot...and ramble excessively, so I don't doubt that you heard all of that stuff from the horse's mouth at some point. But I can bet that much of it was only told to you once, most likely in a way that would make John Moschitta proud. So, I'm just wondering..." She paused, "...how you managed to remember all of that."

Luke brought his lips in, then held his bottom one between his teeth before sliding it out slowly. Then, he shrugged. "I listen."

Lorelai stared at him silently. She spoke after nearly a minute had lapsed. "Well, I'm impressed." She exhaled. "And a little sad," she added as she stuck her hands in her jacket pockets.

He looked up at her worriedly. "Why sad?"

Lorelai smiled faintly at the concern in his voice. She looked at him and shrugged. "Because I don't know as much about you."

He dropped his eyes. "You know a lot about me."

She shook her head. "No, I don't. Not enough." She reached a finger down to his hand. Lightly running her finger over his middle knuckle, she spoke. "You have a tiny scar right here." She'd seen it many times as he poured her coffee. She pulled her hand back and stuck it back in her jacket pocket. "I don't know how you got that."

He chuckled. "You want to hear about a barely noticeable scar?"

Lorelai nodded seriously. "Yeah. We can start there."

"Start?"

Another nod. "There."

Luke looked off to the side. "Just about me?" He asked.

Lorelai looked at him for moment. "_All _about you." She smiled as he shied away. "If there's ever an _LD Knowledge _game, I wanna nail it. Like you did."

He was flattered that she wanted to take time out to do that. He smiled a bit. "You're a little tipsy. You sure you're gonna take everything in okay?"

"I'm sure," she said simply.

He breathed deep and looked down in thought. "Okay...the scar?" She nodded, and he continued. "I was um...I was in high school..."

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

"So, are you telling me that you didn't always like flannel?"

Luke used his hand to emphasize his point. "I _hated _it. When my grandmother bought my first flannel shirt, it sat in my closet for at least a year because I just wouldn't wear it."

Lorelai laughed, dropping her head low to her lap. "Are you kidding me?"

Luke chuckled. "I'm not kidding you."

"So, what are you making up for all the years you missed out on or something?"

He laughed. "I don't know, I guess so." He looked down at the sleeve of his flannel. "It's comfortable, though. It really is." Lorelai smiled as she watched him look at it. "It definitely took a while to get past the..._plaidness_ of it..." She laughed. "But I just kinda put it on one day. Once I did, it grew on me."

"Big time."

He smiled. "Yeah, big time."

"I always wondered what made you get into flannel. I knew it had to start somewhere."

Luke winked at her. "But it's not that bad, is it--the flannel?" Lorelai smiled. "Kinda suits me?"

She touched his arm. "No, it's not bad. I wouldn't be surprised if you're the reason Brawny invested," she added. "Gives you that rugged, manly look."

He smiled. Got a brief kick of courage. "Don't forget handsome."

She smiled some. "_Extremely _handsome," she confirmed.

He laughed, blushing at the same time. Of course he'd been joking, but she definitely didn't seem to be. He felt like he was back in high school and had just found out the most beautiful girl in school thought he was worthy.

Fleeting illusion, at most.

"So, where does that put us? Question, uh...what is it--three million, nine hundred--"

Lorelai pushed his knee as it sat in front of her, on the step below. "I haven't asked that many questions," she said.

Luke smiled. "Look at your watch."

"Why?" She asked as she moved her jacket away from her wrist.

He smiled wider. "Just look."

Lorelai looked down at the time, and her eyebrows raised. "Jeez. This can't be right," she said calmly.

"It is."

Lorelai did the math quickly. "We've been out here for almost 3 hours."

"I know." He looked up. "I can tell by the way the moon has bounced all around the sky."

Lorelai smiled. "The moon doesn't bounce, Hon. It and _we_, mainly _we..._ just slowly circle," she said moving her finger.

He rolled his eyes. "Well, I can tell by the way we've been spinning around like a gargantuan sized merry-go-round, then. Better, Ms. Astronomical Genius?"

"You don't have to say all of that. Call me _Genius_ for short. And yes, your average sized brain has come to a more acceptable conclusion."

Luke chuckled. "Either way, it's pretty late."

Lorelai bundled her jacket around her more. "Are you ready to leave?" She asked quietly.

He looked up at her. "You want me to go?" He asked, making sure she wasn't pushing him out of the door.

She smiled, dropped her eyes. "I think you should just finish out this cool thing you started. Last one to come, last one to leave."

Luke looked at the door to the kitchen that still had a few shadows moving past it. The music had been turned down considerably, but it still played nonstop as occasional shouts and laughter rang to their location.

He smiled. "I'd probably be here until my diner opened back up."

She shrugged. "Being cool doesn't come easy. Not unless you're me...but since you're not, you may have to put in the work, Luke. Sorry."

He met her eyes. "So, you want me to stay?" He asked softly.

She smiled, not entirely sure if it was accompanied by a blush. But she figured it came hand in hand with the small case of butterflies. "I want you to _want_ to stay," she answered.

He smiled. "I want to stay. But I don't think everyone will like it if I continue to hog the birthday girl."

Lorelai laughed. "They'll get over it. Besides, I'm not really the birthday girl anymore." She held her watch out to him. "Past midnight."

He looked at the time, then back at her. "I think as long as the party is still in effect, so is your title."

"Doesn't matter."

"Does too."

"Does not."

He smiled. "You're childish."

She smiled back. "I just had a birthday, and I'm this many," she said flashing both hands three times, then a few fingers on one hand. "That much flashing equals adulthood."

"Who can argue such logic?"

Lorelai smiled wide as she reached a hand down to his hat. Her fingers lightly shook the backwards hood. He smiled, his head shaking slightly with her movements. "I gave you this hat."

He pulled his head away and adjusted the hood even though she hadn't affected its position. "So?"

Her smile widened. "Just an observation."

"Keen. Guess I should hit _Doose's _when it opens so I can buy you a cookie."

She brought her hands to her lap. "Luke, what's your favorite color?"

Luke thought for a moment. "We've gone all the way around the world and back with questions tonight, and you're just asking me this?"

She shrugged. "Just occurred to me that I didn't know."

He sighed, thought. "I don't think I have one," he answered after a moment.

"You should. Everyone should have a favorite color."

"Sorry to disappoint."

Lorelai looked to him for a moment. "You like blue?"

"It's okay. Why?"

"I think blue should be your favorite color."

"You're _giving _me a favorite color?"

"I've noticed that no matter what shade of blue you wear, it really brings out your eyes."

"Hm."

"And that's not true for me. I have blue eyes too. Have you noticed that?"

Luke rolled his eyes. She was way past crazy if she thought he hadn't noticed something that obvious about her. "I'm color blind," he stated flatly.

She smiled and went on. "But every blue I wear doesn't necessarily compliment my eyes. That's totally not the case with you." She paused. "I love to see that hat on your head. You know why?"

"Because you bought it?" He asked knowingly.

She shook her head. "Because you always wear it, so your eyes always stand out. It's nice."

He smiled. "Nice that I always wear it?"

That's not exactly what she'd meant. "A little," she replied. There was a small silence. "Why do you...always wear it?"

His answer was immediate. "Because I like for my eyes to shine bright. It makes me feel pretty, witty, and gay," he said blandly.

Lorelai laughed. "I didn't know you were familiar with Maria."

He shrugged. "I'm not. I'm familiar with Adam Sandler."

"Reference tease. I thought we were gonna have an in-depth discussion on _West Side Story_."

"Glad I dodged that bullet."

"Be quiet," she said as she playfully nudged him.

Luke looked towards the sky as he leaned his head against the railing. Lorelai looked across the darkened yard. Several moments of silence passed. Her eyes moved over to his face, then she glanced at the sky that seemed to captivate him. She smiled. "Hoping to see a shooting star?"

He shook his head lazily as his eyes remained high. He dropped his eyes to her. "It makes us seem so insignificant when you really take in everything up there."

Lorelai smiled widely. "You're not about to get poetic on me, are you?"

"No, not tonight," he replied with a small grin.

Lorelai used her hands to scoot over toward him, choosing to lean on the rail as he was. She brought both her knees up and wrapped her arms around them as she looked upward. "Man, there's a lot of stars tonight."

Luke nudged her with his elbow. He smiled, closed his eyes at what he was about to say. "It's kinda like the big Man's recognition. Of your day." He opened his eyes and kept them low, hoping the feeling of exposure would soon pass.

He looked up at her, and saw a large smile on her face as she looked at him. "I thought you weren't going to get deep on me."

He smiled. "I made no such promise."

Their eyes were locked for the longest moment. Lorelai smiled. "Dirty," she whispered.

He chuckled and dropped his gaze. Lorelai licked her top lip slowly as she looked away as well. Luke's eyes went to his shoe that still sat on the opposite railing. He smiled. "You still all liquored up?" He asked playfully.

Lorelai's eyes narrowed considerably as she smiled. "No," she answered softly. "I'm pretty sure the liquor has worn off."

"You want me to go get you something to eat or something? We've been out here for a while."

"No, thanks. You want something?"

He smiled. "It's your birthday, not mine."

"But you're my guest."

"Tangled web, huh?"

She laughed. "You know what I would really like right now?"

"What's that?" He whispered as he turned attention to her fully. Again, their eyes met, and Lorelai inhaled slowly before releasing it. She smiled and looked down at his shoulder.

"You probably won't do it."

"You won't know unless you tell me."

"Will you do it?"

"Will you tell me so I can give you a definitive answer?"

They both spoke softly. Their positions placed them six inches apart, give or take. There was no reason to speak very loud at all.

She smiled again. "Can you sing Happy Birthday to me?"

He rolled his eyes with a light chuckle. "Tell me you're kidding."

"I can't. I really want you to sing it to me."

"Why?"

"Because I'm sure you didn't sing it with everyone else inside, and I want you to do that for me." He shook his head. "Plus, I saw a guitar in your apartment. And don't say it's Jess' because it was there before he got here."

He shook his head again. "I'm not a crooner."

"Who's asking you to croon? I just want to hear your voice. Your singing voice," she clarified quietly after a moment.

He took a deep breath and scratched his brow with his thumb. Finally, there was a small shrug. "Fine."

Lorelai smiled with much happiness. She moved a little closer to him, making their shoulders mash together.

Luke looked down shyly. He opened his mouth, and it took a moment for words to actually come out. He half-whispered, half-sung, "Happy Birth...day to you." He looked up and smiled at her bright eyes locked on his. "Happy Birthday to you." He paused, touched the side of her leg with a tiny smile, then pulled back. "Happy Birthday...dear Lor-e-lai." He smiled as her name came from his lips. "Happy Birthday...to you."

Lorelai smiled goofily, then bit her lip as it faded. "That was nice," she whispered.

"I'm glad you think so," he said with a soft chuckle.

Lorelai unlinked her hands from around her legs. She balled her left hand into a fist, then smiled. "Here, give me your hand." He held his right hand up slowly as he looked at her small smile. She unfolded her fist, then linked her fingers through his. She looked at him, still smiling.

His brow furrowed. "Why is your hand shaking like that?" He asked softly.

Her smile widened to show her teeth as she looked at their intertwined fingers. "I don't know," she replied honestly. Her voice was so calm and light.

They slowly unhooked their hands, and Luke brought his back to his lap, still looking at hers. "Are you cold--do you want to go inside?"

She tilted her head and looked at him considerately. "No, I'm okay," she replied, barely in a whisper.

He nodded. "Let me know if you want me to do something," he replied with a helpless shrug.

Lorelai looked down for a moment. "Luke?"

"Yeah?"

His eyes were wide with concern, and she looked at him with a pure look that he couldn't exactly place. "Can I be honest with you for a second?"

Oh boy. "Sure."

"I really loved when you sung to me a minute ago." He nodded. She'd said as much. "And I really wanted to hear it. So that wasn't a lie." Again, he nodded.

"Was something else a lie?" He asked.

Lorelai sighed quickly. "Yeah. Kind of."

"Kind of?"

"Kind of...a lot." The look in his eyes requested more. "When you asked me what I wanted...that wasn't really it." She smiled. "I just chickened out a little bit."

He nodded slowly. "From what?"

"From telling you what I really wanted..." She sighed and closed her eyes briefly, "...what I really wanted at that moment...and even now was _and is_...to kiss you," she ended quietly.

He stared into her eyes without words. He could have sworn that he was still at Lorelai's house, but given the words he'd just heard, he wondered when he had gone back home and entered dreamland. He tried speaking because in those dreams, he was surprisingly unable to. Lorelai continued.

"I know that you may not necessarily want to kiss me...too, so that's why I'm kind of doing this whole _'mother, may I'_ thing. But I really want to kiss you, Luke. So much," she whispered unguardedly.

He tried to force out a sound. Just for his own soaring hopes and peace of mind. When the word, "Oh," came out, he wanted to yell in triumph, but he instead focused attention back on Lorelai. "Wow, that's flattering," he whispered without thought. Lorelai's brows knitted. Luke closed his eyes tightly. "And _so not _what I meant to say...I'm sorry," he covered. She nodded slowly, still waiting for him to respond. He sighed and opened his eyes to her, a smile taking over his lips little by little.

Lorelai smiled as well, this looking much more promising. She brought her knees to rest almost on top of his thigh as she turned her body toward him on the step. Luke's hand grasped her shoulders on either side and he watched his hands move down her arms. His breathing picked up. Lorelai's head lay lightly against the railing as she looked to him patiently. He looked into her eyes, then dropped his gaze down. Using his left hand to move her hair behind her ear, he whispered for her to come closer.

She did so, and he put his mouth close to her ear, closing his eyes at her sweet smell. He swallowed as he began to speak. Mainly due to Lorelai's hands running along the sides of his stomach. "Lorelai," he began quietly, "If I kissed you, I'm not...entirely sure I'd be able...to stop," he said softly. Their location ran through his mind.

Lorelai pulled away. "Who said anything about stopping?" She whispered seriously.

Luke's eyes went up to the kitchen door. Lorelai leaned toward him and his eyes went to hers, which were insanely close. Her fingers went to rest lightly where his buttons were linked. "It's just a kiss," she whispered, her heated breath wonderfully hitting his parted lips. Her lips touched his as her eyes slid closed. "See," she breathed out over a shaky voice. "It's just a kiss." Luke slowly reacted, placing his hand on the side of her face.

They kissed softly. Soft pecks soon turned to a more intense lip lock, and Lorelai's mouth was the first to open as she offered a sweet surrender to Luke's tongue. There was a mutual intensity that was unchartered for each of them. They'd both had first kisses, but neither had ever had a deep-rooted connection, both physical and mental with another person that had been locked in Genie's bottle for over half a decade.

Luke resisted the urge to lay her back on the porch. He, instead, held her against his body tightly, and he tried not to pass out from the softness of her lips, the teasing nature of her kiss. He wanted to hold back, tried to do so, given their location, but Lorelai seemed to give him all she had to offer, so he found himself doing the same.

The kiss slowed, started heavy again in the course of two seconds, then slowed once more as they found oxygen refereeing that beautiful title fight.

"I told you. It's just a kiss," Lorelai said breathily as she pressed her lips against his swollen, pink ones. They took the kiss deep again. Given the small amount of time they had put aside for air reload, they separated soon after.

Luke leaned into her, and he rested his mouth below her earlobe. Lorelai felt him sparking awake her nerve endings and putting them in rapid motion across her skin. She felt his lips come together, and there was a gentle kiss. A smile fell upon her lips, and she heard music. Felt music. And she wished always to have this feeling.

"You taste like honey," she heard his breathless voice whisper.

Lorelai felt her knees weaken, and she was grateful that she wasn't on her feet.

Her hand went to his arm, and she slid her way to his hand, lifting it up to her cheek. She pulled away and looked into his eyes as her fingers rested over his. They looked at one another. Lorelai felt his hand slide down from hers. It went lightly to the side of her neck. She swallowed, smiled, and slid her eyes close. Feeling his hand dip just a bit lower, onto her clavicle, she breathed heavier, leaned a little closer.

_"Don't stop_."

Her hand was on his thigh. At a very high place on his thigh.

He paused. Sighed. His hand moved from her chest to her hand, which definitely had a destination in mind. She opened her eyes, saw his soft, adoring ones locked on her.

"Not right here," he said, his gaze moving over her face.

She nodded. "Upstairs, then?"

Jess had gone back to Luke's apartment, so that was definitely out. But then again, Lorelai's house still had restless partiers inside. "Are you forgetting about the house full of people?" Luke reminded her.

Lorelai shook her head and took him by the hand. "Don't worry about it. Just follow me. And act casual." She stood up, leading him to.

He took a deep breath. "And what's casual?"

Lorelai moved into him, kissing him deeply. It went on a little longer than intended before they separated. She breathed quietly before laying her finger on her bottom lip. "Anything below that," she finally answered.

He nodded and took a second to get himself together before he gestured for her to lead the way.

They both stepped inside of the house to find about half of the people already gone. This wasn't a surprise since many of them had peeped their heads out of the back door to say goodnight. Some of the men had moved the liquor from the table and were now playing a game of bid whist.

Lorelai walked past Rory's room, seeing her sitting indian style on her bed laughing with Lane. She stuck her head inside. "Hey, Kid. You guys doing okay in here?"

They both nodded. "Yep. Just talking," answered Rory. "Hey, you missed a pretty funny game of Pictionary."

Lorelai laughed. "Yeah, I heard," she said, referring to the massive amounts of laughter that resonated to the back porch. She leaned in a little more. "Listen, I'm gonna take Luke upstairs so he can look at my dresser."

"The one that keeps sticking?" She asked casually.

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah."

Luke had appeared in the doorway at the mention of his name. Rory smiled. "Yeah, please fix that, Luke. She fights with it daily, I swear." He nodded and diverted his eyes.

Lorelai winked. "I don't want you guys going to bed too early now, okay? Don't be like the other party posers who left already," she said.

"We're partying till dawn and not stopping even a minute before. Don't worry," said Lane.

Rory laughed. "Babbette and a few others have already passed out in the living room. Just step over them on your way up."

Lorelai gave thumbs up before blowing a light kiss to Rory and dipping her head back out. She turned to Luke in the kitchen entryway, backing up slowly. She smiled. "You okay?" She asked, noticing his discomfort. He nodded, looking down.

"Good." He pointed around her. "Just keep moving," he said with a faint smile.

Her smile widened as she almost touched his cheek. "Relax. You're starting to turn red."

He still looked down as he slowly followed her movements. "I'd love it if you just kept moving," he said.

She laughed quietly before turning her back to him and continuing through the house. "Ooh, work it, Patty!" She yelled as she walked past Ms. Patty moving slowly with some cheesing townsman.

Luke sighed and rolled his eyes to the floor. She was bringing way too much attention to them both. She obviously had an entirely different meaning of the word, '_casual_' than he did.

Patty was far gone. And she was waving a plastic cup that contained the reason why. "Oh, I'm workin' it, Honey. That's one thing I don't need any pointers on," she slurred.

Lorelai laughed, almost bumping into the foot of some lady sleeping on the floor.

Luke leaned close to her. "I'll meet you up there," he said quickly. She nodded before moving to take Babbette's cup from her hand. It was about to fall to the floor as she lay slumped over the armchair. She reached out a hand and moved her hair back from her face so she could see her.

"You think she's gonna be okay?" She asked Morey who sat near her.

He nodded. "She'll be fine. Give her about another half hour, and she'll be up and moving again," he said calmly.

Lorelai stood up and sighed. "Yeah, round two of drunk Babbette is definitely the best." They shared a knowing look before Lorelai patted his shoulder and moved toward the stairs. Three or four other slow, dragging couples still tried to shake it in the middle of the floor, and she laughed softly at the sight as she moved on up the staircase.

She made it up and stopped in front of Luke who was standing against the wall with his hands behind his back.

Lorelai looked down the stairs briefly before moving into him subtly. "What's wrong?" Her hand slid from his chest to his ribcage as she pulled lightly on his flannel. "Why are you standing out here?"

He tilted his head toward the door. "Go see."

Her expression was one of confusion as she lightly twisted the doorknob and looked inside. She stared at the sight for a few seconds before she twisted the knob and closed the door back silently. She turned and leaned on it, folding her arms over her chest.

"Um...why is Kirk curled up at the bottom of my bed?" She asked calmly.

Luke shrugged in exhausted annoyance. "Maybe he thinks he's a puppy."

Lorelai smiled a little, dropping her eyes. She sighed and looked up at him. "Kick him out?" She suggested quietly.

Luke ran a tired hand over his eye, then shook his head slowly. "No...let him sleep. He seems like the type to have night terrors or something. Might wake up and go crazy."

She chuckled. "I know. Start running down the stairs naked and stuff."

They both looked at one another, frowning slightly at the visualization. "Yeah, let him sleep," they said in unison.

Lorelai turned her shoulder to the door before slowly pushing away and moving close into his body. She lifted herself onto her toes and put her face in front of his. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips onto hers. Before he could pull away fully, she pushed her lips back to his and took the kiss extremely deep, making each of them have to fight to hang onto control. They parted, breathing heavily. Lorelai's eyes moved to his lips. "It's okay," she began, "We can wait. No problem."

He nodded quickly in agreement. "Yeah, I know." He paused. "Where...do you think we could wait at?"

Lorelai's eyes fell off to the side, then back to him. "Bathroom's looking pretty wait-friendly. What do you think?"

He looked over at it briefly. "Very wait-errific. Let's go," he whispered.

They separated, and Luke led the way inside. Lorelai stepped in behind him, closing and locking the door. She held the knob and looked at him, swallowing hard. He looked around the area, then back at her. He shrugged in apology. "This isn't exactly how I wanted to do this," he said quietly.

She smiled and looked around as well. "Me either."

He looked at her for second. "So, you've thought about this before?"

She looked away shyly as she took in the bathroom. "I kind of always thought it'd start in the diner. After closing. And end in your apartment...Both of us tangled in sheets and sweating like crazy."

"Good visual."

She reached for him and he took her hand lightly. "...because there is _so much _sexual tension here..." She said seriously.

"...and other stuff..." He added hesitantly.

Lorelai smiled. "Lots of other stuff," she whispered.

Luke looked into her eyes with raw adoration. He knew he was exposed, and his lack of control of it made him smile. His fingers grasped her hips. Barely. And he slid them up her sides, bringing them to her shoulders where he carefully slid her jacket from her body.

Lorelai's chest heaved, and he blinked slowly as he moved a finger from her shoulder, to her chest where he slid it between her covered breasts. He watched his movement as his finger went down her stomach to the top of her pants. His eyes moved back to hers where he saw her opening and closing her lids, lost in sensation. Sensation that she hadn't even begun to feel. Using his other hand to aid in the process, he slid her button from the hole in her jeans. "Lorelai?" he whispered.

One of her hands stayed on the door, and her other went to his arm. "Hm," she answered sweetly.

Luke held one side of her jeans as he slowly slid the zipper of her pants down. Sliding both his hands back up her sides, he moved them under her shirt and supplied additional warmth to her already hot skin. He looked back into her eyes. "I don't want to have sex with you."

She looked at him, that heat continuing to stir and grow. His hands slowed on her skin, and he pulled her nearer to him. Pushing her body against a part of him that would help to extinguish all that burned between them.

Lorelai nodded her head in understanding. She lifted both hands to the buttons on his shirt and started to undo them one by one while still looking up at him. "I don't want to have sex with you either," she said quietly.

He smiled.

When his shirt lay open, revealing his plain tee, she moved her hands to his jeans. There, she undid them completely. If the intense making out hadn't already done it, then Lorelai's hands coming in contact with Luke's manhood, definitely knocked them right out of the land of platonic.

He finished undressing her piece by piece, allowing her room and time to do the same with him. When she was nude, he moved in and kissed her softly on the lips before he lifted her gently, placing her center just below his navel. "You look good naked," he whispered playfully.

Lorelai cupped his face and kissed him, pulling away after a moment. "You do too," she replied. "Every..._inch_ of you does too." She had failed to realize just how much he'd been holding out on her.

He smiled. Turned slightly to look back. "This floor's probably cold," he said. Lorelai pointed over to some towels hanging. He took notice of them, then looked back at her. "And hard," he added. She smiled. He rolled his eyes, and she bit her tongue. Pointed to a closet door not big enough to fit anyone with shoulders through.

"Lots of extra ones in there," she said.

He nodded. "Okay, kiss me."

She smiled, kissed him near his ear as her elbows went to rest on his shoulders. "Kiss you?" She asked.

He smiled. "Yeah, we're talking about a minute of prep time. I need something to get me through that."

She kissed near his ear again, then moved around to face him, her body still being held up by him. She opened his mouth using hers as she offered him her tongue. He smiled as he accepted it. She did too. Then there was a slow kiss. The better part of a minute was lost.

Luke ended it, pulling away a little too suddenly.

"Wait, that's only thirty seconds worth," Lorelai said trying to lure him back in.

"Well, the other thirty seconds will probably have me forgetting what the hell towels _are_." She laughed. "So spare me, please, and let me grab 'em while my mind's still intact."

She allowed herself to be set on her feet, and Luke went one way while she went the other. She reached up on the tall rack that sat over the toilet and grabbed the six or so jars she had sitting up there. Pulling them down, she sat one on the top of the toilet, one on the toilet seat and the rest on the edge of the tub.

Luke turned back with an arm full of cloth and covered the floor in towels. "Where'd you get candles?" He asked distractedly.

Lorelai found her lighter. "I ran downstairs just now and got them. Even took a quick test spin on my new pole I just had installed as a birthday gift to myself." He rolled his eyes. "Don't know how you managed to miss all of that."

He sighed. "You use them to take baths or something?" He assumed.

She nodded. "I go all out." She bent down to light the candles. "You should see me-- all wet and glistening in the tub surrounded by--"

"Me?" he interrupted quietly as he came to stand right up on her. Lorelai smiled as she closed her eyes. She suddenly forgot how to work the child-safety feature on the lighter as her fingers weakened. Luke held her hips as he watched the tip of his erection touch her wetness. He bit his lip, then his eyes went up to where her hand had come out and grasped the sink's edge. Noticing the pause in candle lighting, he asked, "You need some help?"

Lorelai swallowed. "Yeah," came her delayed response.

He moved his tip against her a bit more. Right to left. "What can I do?" He asked.

Lorelai managed a wide smile. "You can stop doing that for starters."

He chuckled, pulled back. "Sorry."

She took a second and finally remembered how to make fire. "No, you're not," she said as she concentrated on getting the candles lit.

He rubbed a hand over her back, down under to her stomach as she still stood bent over. "Yeah, you're right. I'm not," he admitted. Lorelai shook her head.

"I knew it. So transparent."

Just as she got the fifth candle lit, Luke went and flipped the light switch. He lowered himself down to the floor and laid down. His head was directly under where Lorelai stood and his legs lay stretched in the other direction. His feet rested right at the wall. Another inch on his height, and he wouldn't have fit comfortably. Whatever _comfortably _was.

Lorelai lit the final candle, then laid the lighter down. She turned and looked down at him, and he was already looking up at her. "Turn back around. I had a pretty nice view just now."

She smiled and looked down his body.

They didn't have much room to be adventurous. And where he was right then, his position...was just fine with her.

She went and sat over him, just below his abdomen. Lowering her mouth to his, she kissed him softly and pulled back some, feeling his hands rubbing down her arms. "Are you comfortable?" She whispered.

He smiled. "On the floor?"

"No, with this. With me."

There was a pause that just had him touching her skin. "I'm way past comfortable, Lorelai."

It was pretty obvious that they both were.

"Good," she answered quietly. "Me too."

His lips moved up and connected with hers. And there was a slow deepening. Lorelai's breathing seemed to increase, coming out more choppy. A moan came from her throat, and Luke kissed her for seconds longer before he pulled back and kissed her lip, chin, jaw. Holding her face lightly, he said, "We can't make too much noise, okay?"

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied in distraction. She lifted her head and lowered her body some. Her folds went to rest against his pubic bone, and she leaned down to kiss his neck, his chest. She sat back up a bit, and Luke's hand went to cup her breast as he squeezed it lightly. She closed her eyes.

Lifting herself up, she put him at her opening and lowered herself slowly. It took a moment to get adjusted. She situated herself little by little with every inch. At seven, she paused, lifted her body a bit and allowed him to penetrate. Her fingers pressed into his stomach. Her thighs tightened around his sides, and she made way for the other two with centimeters attached.

She whimpered, and her breath caught. Luke paused, and she exhaled through an open mouth and on a shaky breath.

Dropping her chin to her chest, she clenched her teeth together and forced breaths out through her nose. Her hips moved slowly. Rocked slowly, and he allowed her the floor. As she got more comfortable with the up and down, her teeth unclenched, and her tongue went to the outside edge of her top lip. Luke swallowed as he watched it run slowly across before retracting midway.

Her eyes finally opened, and it took a second for her to focus on him.

He looked at her, his mouth open as he breathed with control. She held contact without blinking, her movements gaining confidence. She sunk down on him completely, and her eyes closed back. Opened with effort, then closed when it happened again.

She brought her hands to the floor around him and leaned forward. He met her lips and kissed her deeply. When they separated, Luke leaned back. Lorelai held her position as she moved her hips up and down and then around at a snail's pace. She stared into his face as she did this, her own mouth falling open, unleashing tiny moans into the air. Rocking her lower half up higher, she allowed almost the tip to come out. Then, she sunk back a little quicker.

She bit her lip sexily, rolling her hips in a way that had her whole body feeling loved.

Luke's eyes dropped to her body as he watched her wind atop him. She erected herself fully and adjusted her body even more so that his depth wasn't as restricted as it had been. His eyes went back to her face briefly before falling back to her body. The candlelight did wonderful things to that part of her.

Her hands went to her own chest, and she played with her nipples. She breathed out something that could have been Luke's name or the Heavenly Father's or even Mr. Boyardee, himself. Luke wasn't entirely sure because he was pretty far gone due to the visual before him.

He brought his knees up behind her and sat up a little against the tub. Lorelai leaned back on his knees and continued to ride him. Leaning forward again, she circled her hips, using his pubic bone to stimulate her clit. Luke angled his head to see everything he could before his eyes went back to her face. She sat up, bringing her lips in once she realized her moans were starting to get away from her. Luke's hand went from holding her side directly to her love bump. And he skillfully stroked it as he looked at her.

She closed her eyes. Smiled. Continued to smoothly move up and down his shaft. Luke did this for a while.

He removed his hand and moved to lean completely on the tub, bringing her chest closer to his. Her lips went right to his lips as she placed her hands on either side of his face. And they took a moment to get reacquainted with the other's mouth before separating.

Luke wrapped his arms around her back, hugging her slow moving body closely to him. He kissed her shoulder and parts of her neck and chest as her left hand caressingly moved through his hair. Finally, he pulled away and looked at her, dropping his eyes to where they connected.

"Is this okay for you?" He whispered, referring to her pleasure from the position. The small amount of space, again, offered little room for variety of coupling.

Lorelai smiled. "This is okay," she whispered back. She'd never climaxed at that angle before. But the sensation that she felt led her to believe, even more, that there was a first time for everything.

All it took was the right partner.

Luke was used to providing maximum fulfillment. Because despite his everyday reticence, he was far from a prude in the boudoir. And he wanted, first and foremost, for her to have that ethereal elevation. The kind that he had signed off on long ago.

Lorelai leaned in and kissed him passionately. Her tongue slid over his, and she temporarily stopped thinking about and controlling her sounds as she depended on him to muffle them. She pulled away, a curt breath coming through her parted lips. Grasping his shoulders, her strokes got longer, then shorter. "God, I'm almost there, Luke," she whispered jaggedly. She felt it building inside of her, leading her to smile. Because it was the big one. That _big_, beautiful one that rode in like a freight train, making its presence known.

He bit his lip hard at the feeling of her insides. Her skillful maneuvering. But he watched her features, his breathing getting longer and heavier as he added to the sensation as much as he could.

She sucked in air loudly between her teeth and released it in a breathy exhale that definitely soared past anything even resembling sexy. Luke snapped out of the small trance she had put him in as he predetermined the noise she was about to have little control over.

"Lorelai," he called quietly. She looked at him, her movements showing how close she was to this happy ending. He signaled a kiss, and she brought her mouth upon his, her breathiness only adding to the passion. He grasped her face, kissing her deeply. Her hands went to the tub around him and her kiss intensified as that beautiful volcano of feeling erupted spreading everywhere inside of her. Her lids squeezed shut, and she dropped her head, breaking the kiss abruptly.

She cried out softly, fighting hard at control. And for the most part, she won that battle. Her breathing just paid for it in extreme irregularity. Her hands went back to his shoulders as she squeezed them. Once the beginning of it passed, she lifted her mouth back to his, giving him a slow, deep kiss. Her body shook for the longest minute as he held her in his arms.

She started to move again, the shaking intensifying as she hadn't recuperated fully from her climax. Luke wrapped her tighter, higher and stilled her as he slowly pushed himself in and out of her overflowing tightness. She relaxed into the feeling as she opened her eyes and pulled back to look at him.

He looked back to her, his jaw muscles tightening as small grunts slipped up his throat. Lorelai leaned into him and ran her lips and tongue over his shaven cheek, but she could feel the small pricks of his late night stubble. Kissing the area, she moved her mouth to his ear where she licked softly below his lobe. She felt him sliding deeper inside of her, and she moaned quietly while continuing her task.

He breathed her name heavily before she felt herself being filled. Her hand went to his hair and she drug her fingers lightly through.

They both sat still, allowing their breathing to return to normal.

When Lorelai moved her face in front of his, there was an instant kiss. Soft and pleasing as their tongues lightly brushed. They separated after several minutes when it started to slow.

"That was so good," whispered Lorelai as her forehead went to rest on his.

"I'd have to agree," he said lightly.

She smiled. "I want to do that a lot."

He smiled too. "_A lot _a lot?"

"A whole lot a lot."

His smile widened. "Hopefully in a different locale."

"Yeah, a bed would probably be nice."

"Yeah, preferably a Kirkless bed."

She laughed. Slid her hand down his glowing chest. "Come on, let's get dressed and get back."

He lowered his eyes with a smile. "Okay...but that's like two minutes of prep time."

Lorelai grinned cheekily. "Need some encouragement, Luke?"

"I'm kind of spoiled. It's best you learned this now."

She leaned into him. "I'm sure I can adjust." She whispered this as her lips went back to his.

Their tongues met. And five more minutes were lost.

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-

Luke and Lorelai descended the stairs together, neither bothering to devise a plan that wouldn't make them seem suspect.

"Hey, Babbette, you're up!" Lorelai said cheerfully as she came down to see Babbette sitting up, drinking from yet another cup.

"Hey, Suga! Lovin' the shindig," she commented happily.

Lorelai laughed, turning to look over her shoulder at Luke as they reached the last step. He shook his head.

"Wow, you two were up there a long time." They heard Rory's voice before they actually saw her coming into the living room with a cup in her hand. Lorelai gave her a quizzical look at the cup. Rory chuckled. "Pace punch," she said pointing to Babbette. "Figured she could use some." She continued past Luke and Lorelai and handed Babbette the cup, expertly slipping the other one from her hand and setting it on the table.

Babbette thanked her loudly, and Rory laughed. She went over and stood in front of the two L's with a sigh. "This is turning into a regular old _Animal House _remake, I tell you," she said playfully as she folded her arms. They smiled, and she looked between the two of them. "Must have been quite a stubborn drawer, huh?"

Luke's eyes lowered. Lorelai laughed. "Yeah, it was extremely uncooperative," she answered.

Rory's tongue went to her cheek as she studied Luke. "Uh…._huh_."

Lorelai shook her head, laughing again. "Listen, I'm gonna walk Luke to the door, okay? He's about to take off."

Luke lifted his head, looking to Rory. "Yeah, I have to get going. But it was a great party you threw for your mom. I had fun."

Rory smiled. "I bet you did," she replied.

He lowered his gaze again. Cleared his throat. "I'll...uh...see you later, Rory." He moved past as Rory said_ bye_ cheerfully and patted his shoulder. Just to bring home that redness.

Lorelai gave her a playful look of reprimand before following behind him.

Rory moved up a step as she watched the two of them with a smile as they walked away. Kirk passed by her as he came down the stairs, and she looked to him curiously before shaking her head in dismiss, turning attention back to her mom and Luke.

She watched their close walk together, Lorelai's hand holding the sleeve of his flannel, and she smiled. Turning, she ascended the stairs quickly.

Lorelai and Luke reached the foyer and stopped just shy of entering it. "Hey," Lorelai said as she smiled widely.

His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Yes?"

Her smile grew. "I...uh, dare you to kiss me."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm a grown man, Lorelai."

"Oh, I know."

He fought a smile. "And I don't do dares."

She stared up at him, amusement in her features. "Chicken," she whispered.

"That's not going to work. Just so you know."

Her lips spread more. "Bawk, bawk…"

He chuckled, shook his head. "Yeah, still not gonna work," he said calmly.

Lorelai looked back at Babbette, Miss Patty, and the eight or so other people in the living room. They weren't focused on them, but she was sure they'd take notice if Luke caved. She looked back at him.

"It was worth a shot," she said with a smile. She touched his hand. "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Get home safe, okay?"

He smiled. "I will." Their eyes were locked for a minute, and Lorelai smiled more, seeing the look on his face. He wanted to kiss her.

"Just do it," came her quiet encouragement.

Luke looked to the crowd briefly before leaning forward, a small smile present. He kissed her softly on the lips, then moved his mouth to her ear. "Goodnight." He started to pull away, then leaned back in. "And Babbette just saw that," he whispered.

He moved away to find a large grin on her face, her focus only on him. He smiled at her one last time before backing toward the door. She waved to him shyly.

Luke exited, and only then did she turn toward the late party crowd. Babbette screeched loudly, and Lorelai was snapped out of her thoughts as she quickly covered her ears.

"Babbette, Honey, volume. Please," she said calmly. Everyone tried to listen to what Babbette was saying, but she seemed to be too hyper to actually get words out. Lorelai smiled and shook her head as she walked away.

"Mom."

"Yeah," Lorelai answered, turning to see Rory coming down the stairs.

Rory came down quickly, her eyes questioning the scene of Babbette hunched over trying to find her voice while people gathered around her. She ignored it and walked over to her mom. "Is Luke coming back tomorrow?" She asked.

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know. Why?"

Rory smiled as she folded her arms and bumped into her slightly. "Just thought it'd be nice if he came back to…ya know…_actually_ fix the drawer."

Lorelai laughed as she threw her arm around her daughter. "I guess that _would _be pretty nice, wouldn't it?" She asked as they moved toward the kitchen.

Rory rolled her eyes, shook her head in amusement. "I'm sure the drawer would appreciate it," she mused.

Lorelai leaned close to her. "Well, for the drawer's sake, we'll see if we can get him back over here, then."

"Mm hm."

"Rory, Rory, Rory. _Goodness_, Rory," Lorelai said as she recalled something she had no business recalling right then.

Rory shook her head. "Do I want details?"

Lorelai smiled. "I can give you a _few_ details."

"Just a few?"

"Trust me, that's all you want."

"I'll take your word on that."

"Glad you came out so smart, Baby." Lorelai kissed her cheek happily.

**-The End-**

**Woohoo!! Another ending! Man, those things are hard to reach sometimes. LOL. **

I couldn't get this story to do exactly what I wanted it to do. But I got tired of looking at the same thing _over and over_ and...not knowing what to change. Blah. Just let me know what you think. Thx.


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